The Endgame (Part 4)

Naraku's expression twisted from hopeful to angered. "You refuse??" he repeated angrily. "You can't just refuse after everything they've done!!!"
Makoto shook his head. "They never did anything to me!!" he shouted. "In fact, Shiro taught me how to use my powers!!!!"
"Yeah, because they all wanted to use you!!!" Naraku snapped back. "And besides, the Aurelius family is in my control now, because I defeated the original Abyss King, Lex, in a duel!! So if you're so righteous, then why do you still care about Albus?!?!"
"Because," Makoto said, "I know he didn't actually hurt Shinsuke! I know that Shiro didn't do anything wrong!!!"
"WHY DO YOU STILL CALL HIM SHIRO?!?!?!" Naraku snapped.
"BECAUSE THAT'S THE NAME HE ALWAYS USED IN FRONT OF US!!!!" Makoto shot back.
Naraku sighed. "Fine then," he said, his eyes beginning to glow red. "So be it, Hero!!!"

                                                                        ***

As the two fought, below the Tower was an equally tough battle. Katze, Zain and Gepard had been keeping the Abyss Creatures from getting too close to the mountain, but had noticed that the creatures didn't want to fight them, they wanted to attack the humans down below.
"I call the Southern half!!" Katze shouted as he ran down the mountain to fight.
"Katzeー ugh, he's already gone," Gepard muttered. "Alright, Zain, you come with me to defend the Northern half."
"R-Right!!" Zain said.

It was the same in the forest, except that Lupin had been led down there by the Abyss Creatures while defending his mountain.
"I don't like Elves, but if it means protecting my pack," Lupin said, "I'll work with you, Arthenraed."
The Elf nodded. "The feeling is mutual, Human. But I've got your back, so you better have mine."

Even off in the broken down village, Marjat was using the powers she got from being a ghost to fight off the Abyss Creatures.
"Ruusu, I swear to the Dragon of the Apex, get over here and help me!!!" she shouted. "I can't hold them off forever!!"
"I know, but t-the Abyss is how I lost my left horn!!" the Deom cried. "What if I lose my right horn too?!?!"
The ghost turned around to face her. "Ruusu," she said, "I was an Apex Paladin when I was still living. I will not let them take your horn."
Ruusu's eyes widened a bit. "P-... Pinky promise?"
Marjat sighed, seemingly annoyed, but smiled at the same time. "Yeah, sure. Pinky promise."

And back at the base of the Abyss Tower, Haruka was helping Ryu and Chihiro fight the Abyss Creatures.
However, Haruka was caught off guard and backed into a corner by multiple Abyss Creatures.
'Misao,' he thought to himself, 'I'm really sorry I didn't see this coming.'
Suddenly, before the Creatures could attack him, a young man with short dark blue hair and dark purple eyes jumped in front of him and used night magic to [make them go backwards].
The young man turned around and pushed his hair out of his eyes. "Hey, you OK?" he asked Haruka before seeming to recognize him.
"Haruka?" the young man said, his eyes wide in surprise.

"M-Misao??" Haruka stuttered in disbelief. "How did you- where where you all this time?!"
Misao helped the Fortune Teller up. "The Abyss kinda kidnapped me," he explained sheepishly. "I'm sorry you wait for so long, Haru. I sometimes thought it would be best if you forgot about me and moved on to someone else."
Haruka shook his head and hugged Misao. "No, I would never do that to you," he said.
Misao chuckled and hugged Haruka back. "Lil' change of topic, though, I see you kept your hair long."
Haruka smiled. "Mhm, I did," he chuckled.
But before anything else could be said, a new horde of Abyss Creatures flooded out of the Tower.
"Less talking more fighting so we can talk later?" Misao said as he let go and turned around to face the oncoming wave.
"Yeah," Haruka said in agreement.

As the chaos was happening around him, Shiro ー now known by his true name, Albus Aurelius ー stood not far off, an Apex Paladin in front of him with a spear.
"See all the chaos your kind has caused?!" the Paladin screamed. "You Astrian's just never stop taking things away from Eldoria, do you?!?!"
Albus just sighed. "I'm tired of all this," he said. "Just give me my punishment; I'll take it."
Just as he said this, through all the sounds of chaos, he heard a familiar voice calling for someone.

It was Hope calling for him.

"Pater!! " the young boy shouted as he ran to Albus. "I was just outside behind the house and some weird creepy bug things just showed up out of nowhere!! They're everywhere I go, and I don't know what's going on!!!!"
"Wha- Hope, go back homeー" Albus tried to say, but he was cut off by the Apex Paladin.
"Get out of the way, Abyss Spawn!!!!" the Paladin shouted at Hope.
"LEAVE MY SON OUT OF THIS!!!!!!" Albus snapped.
"I WILL ATTACK WHOEVER I HAVE TO ATTACK," the Paladin screamed, charging at the kid.
But before he could hurt Hope, Albus ran between the two, taking the hit.
He stumbled down, and Hope tried to catch him, though he wasn't really able to because of how small he was in comparison.
"P-pater, are you OK??" Hope asked, confused and worried.
"Yeah, I- I'm fine," Albus said, trying to cover where he had been stabbed.
"Mea Astro," Albus said softly,"don't cry, OK?"

Makoto saw it all happen from the Abyss Tower. He saw everything; the fighting, the hope, the despair, the reunions, the separations. All of it.
"H-How could you?" Makoto said shakily. "Because they all deserve this," Naraku answered.
"What could those people have possibly done to you that you think they deserve THIS?!?!" Makoto screamed, beginning to cry.
The two went back and forth until Makoto just couldn't hold in his emotions anymore.
"JUST LEAVE THEM ALL ALONE!!!!!!" Makoto screamed, and as he did, a pillar of light shot through the Tower from where he was standing...

And everything was white.

                                                                              ***

"Ughh, my head hurts... huh?" Makoto rubbed his forehead and looked up. Everything was white, so it looked like there was nothing, but he could tell he was sitting on a ground of some kind.
"Uh... hello?" he called, but only an echo responded. "Where am I...?" Makoto said to himself, looking around.
"Is that... heh, well, it's been a while, hasn't it?" a calm and happy voice suddenly asked.
"EEP!!" Makoto squeaked, turning quickly and trying to move away from where he was. But when he turned around, he recognized the person who had spoken instantly:

It was himself!

"Wha- how- I-" Makoto stammered and tried to find the right words, but failed. "Hey, calm down," the older version of himself said, kneeling to the current Makoto's level. "I just wanna talk to my old self, 'K? Just... don't worry if you can't stand up; the more negativity inside of you, the heavier you feel in here."
Makoto blinked in confusion. "W-wait, you know what timeline I- I mean, you- err, the old version of us comes from?"
"Yeah," the older Makoto replied with a sigh. "That time was really tough for us... heh, I already feel kinda heavy thinking about it. I mean, Hikari- no, Naraku had a point. we'd both been bullied, but his way of going about it was just not right. Hurting people... is bad. Like what Ryuu used to say in Battle of the Gods, right?" he said with a small smile.
Makoto smiled a bit. "Yeah, I guess," he said, but he still felt really heavy.
"But," he said, "how do I save Eldoria?"
The older Makoto chuckled. "You already did," he said with a smile.
Makoto tilted his head. "... huh? I-I did?" he said in a confused voice.
The older Makoto nodded. "Yep," he said. "That pillar of light, that came from the pendant. That's what saved Eldoria. The evil Abyss Creatures are gone now."
"But what about Zain?? A-and Ruusu??" Makoto asked his older self, who replied "don't worry, they were good people, so they didn't disappear. They're OK."
Makoto slowly smiled, chuckled a little and hugged his older self, who hugged him back.

"Don't worry, me," the older Makoto whispered. "The fact that I'm here means that everything will be OK."

                                                                            ***

Back in the Kingdom of Apexius, in Eldoria, the dark clouds that had appeared over the Kingdom disappeared. Every part of the Kingdom finally felt the stillness and peace of the battle against the Abyss ending. All the villagers cheered, and the Abyss Warriors who had been under Naraku's control were finally free. Even Takeo woke up when that pillar of light appeared.
"We- we're saved," The Apex Master muttered in disbelief. "I knew Makoto was the Chosen One, but it just looked too much like the Abyss King was winningー wait, where is everyone?!"
He rushed outside the Tower to make sure everyone was OK, and he saw everyone standing where the Abyss Tower had been, but now there was no evil tower.

"Makoto!!" Chihiro called before almost bumping into the Apex Master. "Master!! Have you seen Makoto? The tower went down, but I can't find him-"
"Chihiro," the Apex Master said firmly, "don't worry, we'll find him. Go find Ryu and you two look to the East; I'll find Iduna and look to the West, and Haruka and Misao can look to the North, while the others can look to the South. We will find him, don't worryー"
Just as this was being said, everyone saw a figure walking towards them, and they could tell it was Makoto.
"M-Makoto!!!!" Chihiro called, relieved to see his friend was OK, but then confused by the fact that Naraku was with him!!

"..." Naraku said nothing when he saw them all, but Makoto gave him a small nudge. "Go on," Makoto encouraged. "Go tell them."
"... Makoto forgave me," Naraku said quietly.
"And you all should as well," Makoto added.
"BUT WHY?????" Ryu screamed impulsively.
"Because Naraku is just like me," Makoto explained. "We were both bullied, and I think he should get a second chance!"
"Makoto, you've got to be out of you're mind," Marjat, who had come over with Ruusu and the others, said, her voice VERY dry. "He's the Abyss King, and you think he should get a second chance?"
"Well," Makoto began to explain that after that pillar of light, he woke up in that white space, and after coming back to Eldoria, Naraku had sincerely apologized.
Just as he finished, Albus showed up, somehow having been healed. "Puer?" he said. "C-can I ask one thing of you?"
Makoto turned to face him, a little surprised, but then smiled. "I'm not gonna punish you; you have a family to care for, so wouldn't that make me a bad hero if I hurt you?"
Albus blinked in surprise. "But, the Astrians are part of the Abyss, and I one of them..."
"Don't worry," Makoto said with a smile. "I forgive you."

Then, a bright light shone down on the ground, and an oriental dragon, like the one on Makoto's pendant, flew down to face the boy from Earth.
"Chosen Hero," the Dragon said, "I am the Dragon of Eldoria. I have come to give you a choice.
"You can either return to Earth as if none of this happened, but keep the memories of Eldoria," the Dragon explained, "or you can stay here as the Chosen One. Which do you choose?"

Makoto looked at everyone. He had only been in Eldoria for about a month or two, but so much had happened, that he felt that he couldn't leave.
"Don't mind us, Makoto," Ryu said, seeming to be holding back tears. "We'll be OK if you go."
"Y-yeah, don't *sniff*, don't worry," Chihiro sniffled, trying to smile for his friend.
Makoto saw Iduna smiling and crying, but she seemed to be trying to encourage him to do what he wanted.
Seeing them all like this, all sentimental, Makoto started to feel like crying too, but he held it back and turned to face the Dragon.

And he made his choice.